Wolf hearing in Ventura draws howls of protest

CHUCK KIRMAN/THE STAR
The Sierra Club organized a rally outside the Crowne Plaza Ventura Beach Hotel on Wednesday before a Fish and Game Commission on whether to list the gray wolf as a threatened or endangered species in California.

Ventura County Star

CHUCK KIRMAN/THE STAR
Shawnee, part Mackenzie Valley Arctic wolf and part malamute, is an ambassador for the Angels Protectors animal rescue group. The Sierra Club organized a rally outside the Crowne Plaza Ventura Beach Hotel on Wednesday before a Fish and Game Commission on whether to list the gray wolf as a threatened or endangered species in California.

Ventura County Star

CHUCK KIRMAN/THE STAR
Stephanie Winnard displays a sign at a Sierra Club rally outside the Crowne Plaza Ventura Beach Hotel, where the Fish and Game Commission was considering Wednesday whether to list the gray wolf as a threatened or endangered species in California.

Ventura County Star

CHUCK KIRMAN/THE STAR
Members of the Sierra Club and other groups filled a meeting room in the Crowne Plaza Ventura Beach Hotel on Wednesday for a Fish and Game Commission on whether to list the gray wolf as a threatened or endangered species in California.

Ventura County Star

A much-debated decision on whether to list the gray wolf as an endangered species in California will take a few more months, a state commission decided Wednesday in Ventura.

A gray wolf crossed into Northern California from Oregon in late 2011, becoming the first of its kind in the state in decades.

Since then, the wolf, known as OR7, has come and gone, staying mostly in southern Oregon. But its appearance in California sparked debate about wolves returning to the state after a hiatus of nearly 90 years.

On Wednesday, the California Fish and Game Commission was asked to decide whether to list the gray wolf as endangered under state law. A petition to do so was submitted by the Center for Biological Diversity in 2012.

The commission meets throughout the state, and the April meeting happened to be set for Ventura, far from where the gray wolf decision would have the most impact.

Commissioners heard from dozens of speakers in a crowded meeting room at the Crowne Plaza Ventura Beach Hotel. Many spoke in favor of the listing, others against.

State Department of Fish and Wildlife staff members had previously issued a report stating an endangered listing wasn’t warranted at this time.

While proponents say science and common sense support listing the wolves as they attempt to move back, the department said its findings did not determine significant threats to the species, which does not have a known breeding population here.

At the end of the three-hour discussion, commissioners voted to put off a decision for 90 days. The California Cattlemen’s Association and others said ranchers weren’t able to make the trip but wanted an opportunity to state their concerns.

“We have constituents who were not able to be here, who could not travel to Ventura,” said Commissioner Jacqueline Hostler-Carmesin. “We need to revisit this in June and allow those comments to be heard.”

An exact date for the commission decision was not set, but officials said it would fall within the 90 days.

Commissioner Richard Rogers, of Santa Barbara, said he thinks the commission would be better able to make a decision with more input from groups developing a state wolf management plan.

The state is working with agriculture and wildlife conservation groups to come up with the plan, but it’s not expected to be ready for public review until late 2014.

Rogers said 90 days still would allow more time for input from the group. The state also should be prepared to fill gaps in case the wolf loses protection under the federal Endangered Species Act, he said.

The gray wolf is protected in California and elsewhere under the federal law, but the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service has proposed taking the species off the endangered list.

After the meeting, several proponents of listing the wolf criticized the delay.

“I think it’s a cop-out,” said Jim Hines, speaking on behalf of the Sierra Club. The state has received information and testimony over more than a year, said Hines, who leads conservation efforts for local Sierra Club chapters.

The wolf management plan is not a legal substitute for listing the gray wolf, said Amaroq Weiss, wolf organizer for the Center for Biological Diversity, one of the groups giving input in the plan. Other states have developed such plans while the wolf was listed, she said.

Other speakers Wednesday included a representative from Angels Protectors of Napa, an animal rescue group that brought “a wolf ambassador” to the meeting. “Shawnee” was described as part Mackenzie Valley wolf and slept or sat quietly on the floor.

Several from the agricultural community spoke out against the listing, saying they were concerned about impacts to livestock and business.

Pasadena teen Grant McComb, a youth outreach associate with Project Coyote, said listing the wolf would help bring ecosystems back in balance.

“When you’re all dead and gone, I will be here and my generation will be here,” he said, garnering laughs. “But I don’t know if the wolves will be here. So let’s welcome the wolf back into California and protect them.”